Non-Scale Victories

Time to get on that scale! I was a little nervous, honestly. I knew I’d lost some weight. I mean, how could you NOT lose at least a few pounds on a super low carb diet, right? But getting on the scale is always a little triggering for me. It does cause anxiety. I rarely like that number I see these days.

Weigh In after 2.5 weeks

Starting Weight: 177.2

Current Weight: 174.8

Non-Scale Victories

My pants are loose

Am now wearing 1 size smaller jeans

My underwear is too big

I had to move my bra to a tighter hook

I feel less bloated

I realize I should I have measured my body when I first started. I think that would have shown more of a change than the scale. I’m also curious if I would have lost more weight had I not gotten sick in week 3. I didn’t work out for 5 days. 🙁 But I am still happy with the progress I have made so far!

How I Feel

Good! I do not feel the crushing misery of previous low-carb diets. I don’t feel run down or lethargic. I don’t feel hungry. I am able to manage my cravings pretty well. I haven’t felt a “sugar detox” like I have felt in the past when I stopped eating sugar/candy.

After the first week my jeans all felt looser. I attributed that to not eating bread/carbs/gluten as opposed to weight loss.

Other Interesting Things

Something else I noticed after starting the keto diet, my psoriasis cleared up in certain areas. I had some pretty gnarly patches of psoriasis on my legs that flare up. They get worse in the winter and can be really red, big and itchy/irritated. I have a topical cream I use that “sort of” manages it (not really–just takes the edge off the itchiness really).

I wasn’t really using the cream much during this time period and yet the psoriasis on my legs shrank. It was less itchy and got way smaller! I don’t know if there is a correlation to the diet. I started reading more about it and saw different things, of course it’s all anecdotal stories but I am seeing other people claim their psoriasis cleared up with a keto diet. Very interesting indeed!

Now for some TMI stuff – first my period. When I get PMS I crave salty, crunchy stuff. Chips, etc. I didn’t have that issue while I was on Keto. Second – one of the side effects of keto is constipation. I am trying to keep my fiber intake up. I have started adding some Benefiberto my iced tea at breakfast. Supposedly MCT Oil can cause diarrhea, but I’ve used it a few times in my coffee now and have not had that issue. Maybe you only get stomach issues if you use too much?

Future Keto

I am going to continue doing this diet for awhile. At some point I hope to switch to some kind of carb-cycling schedule. Something like doing keto Monday-Friday and then on the weekends eating higher carbs–not going crazy but eating things like FRUIT!!!! And maybe my Kombucha! (I miss it!) and my Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi. I miss those too! But those are all too high in carbs for keto. So maybe those could be my “high carb” weekend splurges.

But for now, I’m good. I like this!

Edited to Add:

I am super impressed with myself that I was able to so easily give up sugar and candy!

I wanted to give an update about a post I wrote about medications and weight over the summer. Read that post for the background but the cliff notes version: I gained 10 pounds on a medication this summer.

I had a choice to make, try a different medication, or just keep going with prozac, which was working very well for my anxiety. I decided to give the buspar a chance per my doctor. I stopped the prozac and switched to the other one. Right off the bat, I was not a fan. It did absolutely nothing for my anxiety. I gave it over a month, waiting with white knuckles for it to finally kick in and start working…and nothing.

I was even having occasional panic attacks, which was not traditionally a component of my anxiety. So that was fun! I talked to my doctor and he increased the dosage. Within a few days of that, I started having really awful side effects. The biggest one was heart palpitations. Like constantly. It took me a few days to realize that the never ending heart palpitations might be because of the meds. I googled it and sure enough, “if you have this side effect, call your doctor immediately”. YAY! 🙁

So I stopped the buspar immediately and within a day or so the side effects were better and mostly gone. That’s the good news. The bad news? I was still in the same boat as I was before.

I went back on a low dose of the prozac and I am trying to manage my anxiety with mindfulness and a relaxation app I downloaded. The one I usually use is Breathe2Relax. I also use the Oakapp. I like them and they work pretty well when I’m in the middle of an anxiety attack.

As for the weight I gained this summer…I am making good choices to lose it.

No candy/dessert (which has been very hard with all the Halloween candy that’s EVERYWHERE!) but I am doing well with that so far.

No alcohol Monday-Thursday and on Friday/Saturday nights I can have 1 drink (instead of my usual 2).

Reminding myself it’s ok to be hungry sometimes.

Taking the stairs at work. I go up and down between several floors multiple times a day and I’ve started using the stairs instead. It’s the little things that add up.

I’m still working out my normal 5 days a week with 2 rest days.

I’m counting my calories still but I am trying to actually create a deficit instead of eating back all of the calories in the gym.

Weighing myself once a week. When I was in maintenance mode I was weighing once a month, or even less. If my clothes got tight, then I’d weigh myself, but I basically stuck at the same place.

The first week I lost almost 2 pounds. The second week I lost another pound. Over that weekend I wasn’t feeling 100% so I skipped drinking for the most part. I also didn’t have much of an appetite, so I think that helped jump start things.

As far as the mental aspect, I am doing well. My anxiety is “ok” and I’m feeling super focused on losing the weight. I am finding it easier to resist treats and things that are my downfall, so I think my mind is IN THE GAME on this.

Then Thanksgiving weekend hit–pie, wine, carbs…you know the drill. I didn’t weigh myself for 2 weeks and finally got back on the scale. This weekend I weighed myself after taking a few weeks off from the scale and was happy to see a few more pounds gone! I am now down a total of 7 pounds since October! WOOHOO!